50 cancer appointments cancelled per week at UHG
Appointments for cancer patients are continuing to be cancelled at a rate of more than 50 per week at University Hospital Galway – a so-called cancer ‘Centre of Excellence’.
Management at the city hospital have confirmed that 22 oncology clinics were cancelled between May 26 and Friday, June 19, affecting a total of 262 cancer patients.
Of these, 135 have had appointments rescheduled but some 127 have yet to be told when they will get another appointment.
It means that since January, more than 1,000 cancer patients had their appointments at oncology clinics postponed by the hospital due to staff shortages.
The additional postponement of appointments for 262 cancer patients was revealed to city councillor Catherine Connolly (Ind) at this week’s HSE West Regional Health Forum.
The figure keeps rising – at the previous forum meeting last month, Cllr Connolly was told that between January and May, some 866 cancer patients had their appointments cancelled at short-notice at University Hospital Galway since January.
The HSE has admitted that the reason the appointments were cancelled was because it does not have enough medical employees to staff the clinics.
The majority of the cancellations were in main oncology clinics but some were in the registrar clinic, the registrar-led clinic, and the oncology joint lung clinic.
Cllr Connolly asked management, “How can you stand over these figures?”
She said it was “absolutely deplorable” that cancer patients’ appointments were being cancelled because of underinvestment and lack of staff at UHG.
“How can this be happening? How can we allow this to happen? There are 127 patients, according to these figures, who have no idea when they will get an appointment. That’s not good enough. It is deplorable,” she said.
Cllr Connolly said the Government needed to invest in the system.
The hospital has indicated that appointments for cancer patients will continue to be postponed from now up until the middle of July.
Tony Canavan, Chief Operating Officer with Saolta University Health Care Group, said that the staffing problems should be solved by then and that additional medical staff will be in place.
At the previous meeting, it was said that the staffing shortage would be resolved by July but Mr Canavan this week said it would be mid-July, rather than this week, July 1, when junior doctors are appointed.
He said that it was extremely difficult to recruit Non Consultant Hospital Doctors due to rates of pay, terms and conditions.
Mr Canavan added he was not trying to justify the cancelations but merely trying to give an explanation, and he expects that clinics would be restored to full capacity later this month.